Take the Edge Off
by Jennah Longbottom
Summary: Maddy wants to be a normal teenager for once and decides that Boylan's is the place to do it. Mark finds her there sometime later...ONESHOT. T for alcohol and drunkenness.


**A/N: Just an idea I had. Glad to finally be getting another fic out of my system. And this is my longest one yet! I'm hoping to work my way up to multiple chapter fics, but we'll see. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova. I just wait anxiously everyday for an announcement that there will be a second season.**

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><p>Maddy sat on the porch, looking out at the beautiful twilight sky. How was it possible that she was here? How was it possible that they were okay after everything that had happened? She felt like she was in a dream. Everything about the calm of the colony was surreal. Was it really just days ago that the Phoenix soldiers were here? Was it really just days ago that things had been so upside down?<p>

Closing her eyes, Maddy leaned her head back and wondered what to do next. Mark was on duty. Josh was with Skye. Her parents had both taken Zoe to the lab. Apparently, Malcolm had created some cool compound that they thought would amuse her. In a surprising turn of events, Maddy had declined their offer to accompany them. She wasn't in the mood. She had felt the need to be alone.

Now, she felt lonely. She was sixteen years old and it was a Saturday night and she should be out! Out doing…doing…whatever it was other teenagers did. With a pang of sadness that surprised her, Maddy realized she wasn't really sure what normal kids did on Saturday nights. She usually read from her Plex or did homework. She usually spent her Saturday nights alone.

"Well, not tonight," she said aloud, striding off the porch and into the street. Tonight she would be a teenager. A blissfully ignorant, irresponsible teenager.

Without really realizing where she was headed she continued to walk, eventually finding herself standing outside Boylan's bar. With a shrug of her shoulders Maddy decided it was pretty much her best option for a night of blissful ignorance and headed inside.

She tried her best to be non-descript as she sat down at the bar. She vaguely wondered if she would get in trouble. Was there even a drinking age here? Maddy frowned as she realized that she had absolutely no idea whether Boylan would serve her or not.

Taking her chances, Maddy held her head high and called out, "Give me something strong," to Boylan's back.

Boylan turned around enthusiastically, but his face fell when he saw who she was.

"Miss Shannon," he said, "what are you doing here? Your father is going to kill me."

"I am adult enough to make my own decisions," Maddy bristled. "And I have decided that I am in need of a strong drink."

Boylan shook his head slightly, looking conflicted and confused.

"Mr. Boylan," Maddy said, sounding exasperated. "After what we all just went through are you really going to deprive me of something to take the edge off?"

Boylan sighed before shrugging his shoulders and filling a shot glass with amber liquid.

"Bottoms up," he said with a smirk, sliding it across the bar to Maddy.

Maddy Shannon had never consumed any type of alcohol in her life. She was a good girl, a smart girl. She followed the rules and did her homework and watched Zoe when her parents told her to. Josh was the one who got into trouble. It was never her, but her older brother, who snuck out at night to drink moonshine and have a good time and sneak back in only to be obviously hungover the next morning.

With that thought fresh in her mind, Maddy picked up the glass and downed its contents in one go. It burned her throat on the way down and her eyes began to water. Still, through her discomfort, Maddy felt a strange warmth in her body. Like fire was rushing through her veins. It made her feel bold and brave.

_There_, she thought with pride, _who's the goody-two-shoes now?_

Placing the glass back on the wooden bar, Maddy looked up at Boylan.

"Fill it again," she demanded.

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><p>Mark was glad when his shift ended. Night had fallen and he could not wait to get home and take off his cumbersome armor. He was about to start walking in the direction of his house when he heard someone call out his name.<p>

"Mark!"

Mark turned to face Dunham, who was walking over with two other soldiers.

"Come to Boylan's with us," Dunham offered.

"I…I don't think so," Mark said haltingly. "I kind of want to get home."

"Oh, come on," Dunham coaxed. "It's been a long night and a long day and a long week. We could all use a little something to take the edge off."

Mark contemplated this for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.

"Awesome," Dunham quipped as the four headed in the direction of Boylan's.

They walked the short distance to the bar, chatting animatedly about the pack of Nykoraptors that had bee spotted uncomfortably close to the perimeter that day. Before long they had reached the drinking establishment and were descending the steps to get inside.

When he reached the bottom of the steps, Mark looked around. His military training had taught him to always be aware of his surroundings. Scanning the dimly lit building, Mark did a double take. He blinked his eyes rapidly, sure he must be hallucinating. Because there was no way-absolutely no way in Hell- that is girlfriend was sitting at the bar in Boylan's downing a shot.

Except that she was.

Dunham and the other two soldiers stopped behind him and immediately realized what he was staring at.

"Is that Maddy?" Dunham asked, disbelief apparent in his voice. It was Dunham's words that broke him out of his stupor.

Turning quickly to his friends, Mark gave them an apologetic look.

"Excuse me," he said, "I have to go see what's going on."

Before they could respond, Mark was striding over to the bar where Maddy sat. As he approached he was able to fully assess her appearance, troubled by what he found. She looked sweaty and carefree and downright giddy, sitting there on the stool laughing. She was wearing a very skimpy tank top. Mark found himself wondering why she would go out in such a state of undress. She looked beautiful of course, but it was all so unlike her.

"Maddy," he murmured, walking up to her side.

Maddy spun around and looked at him with slightly hazy eyes. "Mark!" she screeched, throwing herself into his arms, "I love you so much! You're my boyfriend!"

She turned to Boylan and excitedly called out, "See? He's my boyfriend! I told you I had a boyfriend! He's a soldier! He loves me!"

Boylan looked amused until he looked at Mark and saw the glare the young soldier was giving him. He visibly wilted under Mark's death stare before holding up his arms defensively.

"Hey," he said, shaking his head, "she came to me with all this crap about the war and being an adult and taking the edge off. I couldn't deprive her. I mean, look at her. Look at those pleading eyes!"

Mark turned a cold shoulder on the barkeep, deciding that Maddy was more important.

"Maddy," he said, trying to sound patient, "what on Earth are you doing?"

"I'm being a kid," she said, slurring slightly. "A teenager, Mark. The normal kind of teenager. Not the Maddy kind of teenager. The Josh kind. The fun kind that's good at being a teenager and good at being fun…" She trailed off towards the end of her ramble, confused about the point she was trying to make.

As she was talking Mark noticed a pink button-down shirt on the bar floor at her feet. He sighed, recognizing it immediately as Maddy's. Picking it up he turned back to her and her shifty, clouded eyes.

"Well," Mark sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her off the stool, "I think you've had enough teenager for one night. How about I get you home? Let's pray that your parents don't kill either of us when they see the state you're in."

Mark lowered Maddy until her feet touched the floor, keeping a firm grip on her as she stumbled.

"No, Mark!" she said to him, her eyes widening, "Don't even…don't even worry! They aren't home! Not one of them! They're all not at home! Only I'll be at home!"

Mark grinned despite the unease he was feeling at Maddy's state of intoxication. Was she capable of being anything but adorable?

"That's great," he said, walking her up the steps to the street. "Let's hope you're right and that we can get you to bed unnoticed."

Keeping Maddy quiet as he guided her home, supporting most of her weight, was a struggle. As she began to chatter on about liquid courage and burning honey and other such nonsense, Mark worried that Maddy had no idea what she was talking about when she said no one was home. He tried to imagine what Jim Shannon would do when Mark Reynold showed up at his doorstep, incredibly drunk daughter in tow. Shaking his head, Mark decided to hope for the best.

His hopes were rewarded when they arrived at the Shannon home and Mark realized that all the interior lights were off.

Sighing in relief, he helped Maddy up the front stairs and into the house.

"When I left it was twilight," Maddy said matter-of-factly. "Twilight. Dusk. Nightfall. Sundown. Sunset. Evening. Afterglow. So many words. So many twilight words," she mused as he closed the door behind them and began to walk Maddy to her bedroom.

"See?" Maddy said in a voice that somehow sounded smug and awed at the same time, "I told you no one was home…and no one is home! I was right! I'm always right…why am I always right?"

"Because you're brilliant," he murmured to her as he lowered her onto her bed. "And you're beautiful." He pulled of her shoes. "And you're perfect." He pulled the covers up over her body.

Maddy watched him with wide, unfocused eyes. "And you love me?" she asked, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"And I love you," Mark smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead, "so, so much. Sleep now. I'll come check on you in the morning."

Maddy smiled and closed her eyes, looking utterly content.

Mark looked at her for a few more seconds before placing her discarded shirt on the dresser and turning to leave. As he closed Maddy's bedroom door quietly behind him, he was startled to find Josh standing in the hall, watching him with curious eyes.

"I found her at Boylan's," Mark explained quietly, his gaze steady on Josh. "She had it in her mind to be a normal teenager for the night. I wanted to get her back here before your parents found out. She's pretty trashed."

Josh slowly nodded in understanding. "I'll keep an eye on her," he said in a low voice.

Mark murmured a "thanks" and began to make his way towards the door. As he was about to leave, Josh grabbed his shoulder. "Hey…umm..thanks, man. For keeping her safe and making her happy and stuff," he muttered.

Mark nodded. "No problem," he said, before walking out the door and into the night.

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><p><strong>AN: This feels...strangely relevant to my life right now. Like I'm finally realizing how to live as other teenagers live. I just wish I had realized it at 16 rather than 18. Tried to get some Mark/Josh in there at the end. Anywho, review! You know the drill. And if you don't, you need to read my other stories.**

**Also, quick side note, but does anyone else adore Boylan? I don't know why, but I love his character. I love how he's kind of crooked, but a good guy. Like when he was sitting protectively with Josh in the bar scene during the finale. Oh, and I love that in the absence of Taylor and Wash he seems to have been the one to assume leadership of the colony. Strange, but fitting.**


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